Defoe kick-started Portsmouth's season in style with a brilliant brace and a clever assist to condemn Everton to a second successive Barclays Premier League home defeat.

Harry Redknapp's men arrived on Merseyside having lost their previous six league encounters and having failed to score in each of those defeats in a run stretching back to the end of last season.

But Defoe, 25, found the net with a typically predatory effort in the 12th minute - Portsmouth's first goal in 528 minutes - and then turned provider with an exquisite pass to send Glen Johnson for a second five minutes before the break.

Pompey's 2-0 advantage could have been halved two minutes after the restart but David James made a superb penalty save from former Pompey striker Yakubu.

Defoe, fittingly, had the final say with a brilliant chipped effort in the 69th minute that left Redknapp punching the air in delight.